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Magnetic Resources NL (Magnetic or the Company) is pleased to announce an Updated Mineral Resource Estimates from its deposits in the Laverton and Homeward Bound area.
HIGHLIGHTS
- This update incorporates results from recent drilling results carried out at Lady Julie North 4 (LJN4) since the last resource report announced in November 2023 (“Significant 107% Increase of Mineral Resource at Laverton Project”, ASX release 24 November 2023”).
- Upgraded Mineral Resources Estimate for the project area of:
- 24.9Mt @ 1.66g/t Au totaling 1.33Moz of gold at 0.5g/t cutoff.
- Increase of 7.7% in contained gold over the 24 November 2023 ASX Release.
- Contained gold in LJN4 has risen 11 % from 852,000oz to 948,200oz Au.
- Recent drilling has also confirmed lode continuity on and between sections and as a result, the proportion of Indicated resource category ore has increased.
- Ongoing extension drilling continues at LJN4 and is expected to result in further resource increases as the northern, central and southern parts are still open downdip.
- Results for 6 deep diamond holes are pending and one deep hole is currently being completed.
The update follows extensive down-dip drilling at LJN4.
The verification and reporting of Mineral Resources on behalf of the Company was completed by its JORC Competent Person, Mr M Edwards of Blue Cap Mining. The Mineral Resources Estimate has been prepared and reported in accordance with the 2012 Edition of the JORC Code.
Total Mineral Resources reported for the Laverton and Homeward Bound South projects is now 24.9Mt @ 1.66g/t Au at 0.5g/t cut-off totaling 1.33Moz of gold (See Table 1 below). The cutoff grade is considered appropriate for a large-scale open pit operation.
Managing Director George Sakalidis commented:
“The Lady Julie North 4 Resource has been the key focus for recent drilling, with multiple stacked lodes identified with a number of thick intersections that have still not been closed off at depth. The LJN4 deposit keeps on adding ounces, increasing from 204,000oz in Feb 2023 to 948,000oz in this report.
The northern part of LJN4 is continuous over 300m down dip. The central part is continuous down dip to 550 and the southern part is continuous down dip to 400m. Note in all these cases LJN4 is still open further down dip and augers well for future drilling and resource update, Currently, there are results for 6 deep diamond holes pending with one deep diamond hole in progress.
Following the completion of all baseline background studies, our attention over recent months has turned to completing a Pre-Feasibility, which is being prepared on the basis of the resource, which was defined at November 2023. While this resource estimate does not include the benefit of the recent drilling results at LJN4, this latest drill program was deep and widely spaced and should not have materially changed the outcomes of the project economics.
Preparations are also underway for the development of a Mining Proposal. One mining lease application has already been lodged over LJN4 with others following the lodgement of the Mining Proposal.”
The Table below summarises the updated Total Mineral Resource at a 0.5g/t Au cutoff (Table 1), with Table 2 providing details of the major resources. Details for the smaller resources which have not changed can be found in the 3 February 2023 ASX release.
Table 1. Total Mineral Resource at 0.5 g/t Au Cutoff
Figure 1. Overview of Magnetic’s Laverton and Homeward Bound South Resources
Table 2. Resource details by Main Deposits @ 0.5g/t Au cutoff
Drilling has concentrated on LJN4 over the last 4 months, which are shown in Table 2 and are further summarised below:
LJN4 Resource
The LJN4 (Indicated and Inferred) Resource of 15.3 Mt at 1.92 g/t for 948,200 oz has a present footprint of 750m x 500m (Figure 4) and remains open down dip to the east. Recent drilling results have confirmed the previous interpretation of a moderately dipping, multi-lode structure. Where the drilling encounters breccia, the mineralised structure expands considerably. This is particularly the case below 150m depth. More recent step out drilling has encountered large breccia zones which auger well for continuation of mineralisation at depth. Additional drilling is being planned to further test these expanded breccia zones.
From November 2023 to February 2024, some 29 DD/RC holes were completed for 10,741m with the deepest hole reaching 585.9mRL (500m below surface). A further 6 DD holes for 869m were drilled for geotechnical follow up. Exploration drilling is continuing and results are due for 6 deep diamond holes and with one deep diamond hole being completed.
Some 62% of the resource is classified in the Indicated Category – the increase over the November 2023 report is linked to the excellent continuity evidenced from recent drilling.
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This article includes content from Magnetic Resources NL, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
MAU:AU
Augustus Acquires 1,345km2 Gold Exploration Project Near Leonora
- Augustus Minerals Limited( ASX: AUG) (“Augustus” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that is has executed a binding share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the issued capital in Music Well Gold Mines Pty Ltd, which holds the exploration licenses and applications comprising the Music Well Gold Project located 35km north of Leonora in the Leonora / Laverton Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.
- The large contiguous tenement package covers an area of 1,345 sq km in a region that hosts gold endowment of >12Moz1 gold and >450kozpa gold production2 within 50km of the project.
Neighbouring operating mines include:
Northern Star3 (ASX:NST)
- Thunderbox Mine3 (4.2M oz Au Resources) 20km to the west
- Wonder Underground (0.9Moz Au Resources3) <1km west
Genesis Minerals4 (ASX:GMD)
- Hub Project (0.7 Moz Au Resources) adjoining Music Well Project
Vault Minerals5 (ASX:VAU)
- Darlot Gold Mine (1.9 Moz Au Resources) is located 12km north
- King of the Hills mine (4.1 Moz Au Resources) 20km to the south west
- Extensive geophysics, gravity, soil sampling and rock chipping have already been completed with data validation and target prioritization underway
- Potential for gold discoveries from the dedicated and focused Augustus exploration team over the next 2 years.
Andrew Ford, GM Exploration commented
“The acquisition of such a large prospective gold exploration package in close proximity to operating mines owned by Northern Star, Genesis and Vault Minerals with +12M oz of resources and over 450kozpa gold production2 is a significant coup for Augustus (Figure 1).
“With the gold price now exceeding A$4,000/oz it provides Augustus Shareholders with significant exposure to future discovery in one of the greatest gold provinces in the world”.
Background
Comprising ten granted exploration licences covering an area of approximately 1,052km2 and two exploration licences in application covering an area of 293km2. The total tenement package is 1,345 sq km making the Project one of the largest exploration packages in the region.
Augustus believes that adding a gold focussed exploration project of this size provides optionality and complements its copper/base-metals/uranium focus at the Ti Tree Shear project in the Gascoyne.
Music Well Project
The Project is located within the Murrin Murrin domain, Kurnalpi Terrane of the Yilgarn Craton in the Leonora / Laverton Greenstone Belt of Western Australia.
The Yilgarn is a globally significant mineralised province for gold, nickel and aluminium, and also hosts major deposits of other minerals such as copper, zinc and iron along with other resources such as tantalum, lithium, vanadium, uranium and rare earth elements (“REEs”).
Figure 1: Project location, regional gold Mineral Resources and working processing plants. See Table 1 for source data for Mineral Resources of Gold Deposits in the Leonora-Laverton District).
MWGM initiated the consolidation of tenements and commenced field work, on ground exploration and targeting studies from November 2019. In the resulting 5-year period from November 2019 to November 2024 the Company has consolidated a tenement package of 1,345 sq kms and has identified priority targets for follow up exploration work for Air Core, RC and Diamond Drilling.
These high priority targets have been identified by using MWGMs “Three – Schema Gold Prospectivity Model” which incorporates and utilises classical structural mapping techniques, geochemistry such as Ultra Fine + (UFF) soil sampling, rock chip sampling and advanced geophysics. This multi-disciplinary approach to exploration utilising high-resolution airborne magnetics, gravity and radiometric data, including (UFF) soil sampling over + 1,052sq kms also includes the reinterpretation of the solid geology, structure and deformation history of the region to inform local interpretation of the geological framework and identification of the targets completed over a 5-year period within the Project area.
The geological studies, completed with the assistance of a group of technical specialists, including Southern Geoscience, Fathom Geophysics, Tower Geoscience, Geobase Australia, Daishat Geodictic Gravity Surveyors, Walter Witt Experience and GeoSpy Australia utilising high-resolution airborne magnetics, gravity and radiometric data.
The principal target types include gold in shear zones within granitoids and greenstones (analogous to the nearby Wonder Deeps Gold Mine (Northern Star) and intrusion-related gold systems potentially analogous to King of the Hills and Darlot Centenary mines located southwest and north of the Music Well Gold Project respectively. The Music Well Gold Project is considered to be prospective for gold, base metals and also for lithium, tantalum and REE, which will also be investigated.
The tenement area is characterised by a strongly deformed stratigraphy and intrusions and contains numerous predominantly west-northwest anastomosing subparallel shear zones providing links potentially to Wonder Deeps and Thunderbox gold mines (Northern Star) located to the west of the project area; and the Hub (Redcliffe) gold deposit located to the east (Genesis).
In addition, a series of north-northwest and north-northeast structures trend through the project area and structures of a similar orientation host many of the gold deposits in the Leonora / Laverton area.
There are numerous operating gold mines in the district including the Darlot Gold Mine (~12 km to the north), the King of the Hills Mine (~20 km to the west), the Leonora Gold Camp (~30km to the southwest), and the Thunderbox Gold Mine (~20 km to the west) (Figure 2).
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This article includes content from Augustus Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Sarama Resources - Key Milestone in Cosmo Gold Project Acquisition
The acquisition now has approval from the shareholders of both Sarama and Cosmo and Sarama has received requisite approval and conditional approval from securities exchanges in Australia and Canada respectively. It is anticipated the Transaction will be completed in mid-November 2024.
The 580km² Cosmo Gold Project(2) covers the entirety of the Cosmo-Newbery Greenstone Belt and is located approximately 85km north-east of Laverton in a region known for its prolific gold endowment (refer Figure 1). As one of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia, the Project presents a unique and compelling opportunity for the Company.
Highlights
- Sarama acquiring a majority interest in, and control of, Cosmo Gold Project in Western Australia
- Sarama acquiring an initial 80% interest(1) with ability to increase to 100% in the majority of the Project(1)
- 580km² landholding capturing +50km strike length in highly prospective gold producing region; 95km from both the world-class Gruyere Mine and Laverton gold district
- Project captures one of the last effectively unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia; virtually no effective exploration undertaken for several decades
- Project is very well located being only a 4 hour drive from Kalgoorlie on predominantly paved roads
- All shareholders approvals for the Transaction secured
- Key conditions precedent satisfied and completion of transaction anticipated in mid-November 2024
- Meetings with Traditional Owners confirm support for Sarama’s involvement and its planned endeavours
- Soil geochemistry program underway to generate regional targets in unexplored areas
Sarama’s Executive Chairman, Andrew Dinning commented:
“We are pleased to have passed this major milestone and look forward to finalizing the acquisition of a majority interest in the Cosmo Gold Project in the coming weeks. Together with Cosmo, we have commenced our first soil geochemistry program which will continue over the next 6-8 weeks and feed into larger targeting efforts and work up of drill targets for the 2025 exploration season.”
Cosmo Newbery Project
The Project is comprised of 7 contiguous exploration tenements covering approximately 580km² in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia, approximately 85km north-east of Laverton and 95km west of the world-class Gruyere Gold Mine. The Project is readily accessible via the Great Central Road which services the Cosmo Newbery Community.
The Project captures one of the last unexplored greenstone belts in Western Australia and with a strike length of +50km, the Cosmo Newbery Belt represents a large and prospective system with gold first being discovered in the area in the 1890’s. Multiple historical gold workings are documented within the Project area and work undertaken to date, has identified multiple exploration targets for follow up.
Despite this significant prospectivity, the Project has seen virtually no modern exploration or drilling of merit due to a lack of land access persisting over a significant period. As a result, the Project has not benefited from the evolution of geochemical and geophysical techniques which now facilitate effective exploration in deeply weathered and complex regolith settings which is particularly pertinent given approximately 75% of the Project area is under cover.
Following the relatively recent securing of land access, the Project is now available for systematic and modern-day exploration programs to be conducted on a broad-scale. It is anticipated that future exploration programs will initially follow-up preliminary targets generated from regional soil sampling and limited reconnaissance drilling programs, a majority of which extended to approximately 5m below surface with a small percentage extending up to 30m below surface.
Figure 1 – Cosmo Gold Project Location, Eastern Goldfields, Western Australia
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This article includes content from Sarama Resources, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Takeover Bid for Mako Gold Limited – Updated Closing Date
Aurum notes that there was an incorrect date reference in Aurum’s announcements and the Bidder’s Statement lodged earlier today with ASX.
The updated dates for the offers under the Bidder’s Statements are as follows:
All other dates remain unchanged.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Aurum Resources Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
Brightstar Resources
Investor Insight
A gold-focused emerging gold producer with a clear pathway to production growth, Brightstar Resources presents a compelling investment case driven by its mining and development hubs strategy and a district-scale resource opportunity.
Overview
The price of gold stays strong. In April 2024, the yellow metal’s price passed US$2,400 per ounce for the first time. The reason is multifaceted. The world teeters on the brink of a severe recession while some markets attribute the increase to safe haven rush. Amidst ballooning interest rates, bank failures and falling bond yields, demand for gold continues to rise. At this precise moment, gold is simultaneously an excellent portfolio diversifier and a compelling hedge against ongoing inflation — particularly if one invests in the right company.
Brightstar Resources (ASX:BTR) aims to be that company. An emerging mining and development company, Brightstar occupies a strategic land position of roughly 1,200 square kilometers in the Sandstone Greenstone Belt, 300 square kilometers in the Laverton Tectonic Belt and 80 square kilometers of the Menzies Shear Zone.
The company also owns an existing processing facility that can potentially provide tremendous shareholder value in a low-capital cost restart scenario.
That plant, once fully refurbished and operational, could prove a key differentiator for the company, enabling fast gold production at a low capital cost. This is especially noteworthy given that many other gold companies trading on the ASX are largely focused on greenfield exploration and development. Even once those companies discover a promising resource, mining and processing facilities would still need to be built, undertakings which can incur significant upfront capital costs and take several years.
Brightstar's Laverton gold assets are all centered on a 100 percent-owned 300-square-kilometer tenure in the Laverton Tectonic Zone and all within 70 kilometers of the Laverton Processing Plant. Additionally, all resources within this zone are open along strike and at depth. Only minor drilling programs have been conducted in recent years, paving the way for significant exploration upside with the potential for further regional and greenfields discoveries.
Brightstar also owns 100 percent of the Menzies Gold Project, a contiguous land package of granted mining leases over a strike length of roughly 20 kilometers along the Menzies Shear Zone and adjacent to the Goldfields Highway.
In 2023 and 2024, the company announced a mineral resource upgrade to the Cork Tree Well deposit (Laverton gold project) and also delivered two maiden mineral resource estimates at the Link Zone and Aspacia deposits (Menzies gold project). This has grown the total group MRE by approximately 150 koz gold through organic exploration.
The company has also acquired 100 percent of the shares and options of Linden Gold Alliance, a gold producer, developer and explorer with existing mineral resources of 350 koz @ 2.1 g/t gold near Brightstar in the Laverton district. Brightstar’s MRE has reached 1.1 Moz gold across the Menzies and Laverton projects, with an additional 0.35 Moz gold in resources added after the successful acquisition of Linden Gold Alliance.
In August 2024, Brightstar entered into a scheme implementation deed to acquire 100 percent of Alto Metals (ASX:AME), which owns the Sandstone gold project located in East Murchison. The project has a current mineral resource of 1.05 Moz of gold at 1.5 g/t.
Brightstar also completed the acquisition of the gold rights at the Montague East gold project (MEGP) from Gateway Mining Limited (ASX:GML). The project is located 70 km from the Sandstone gold project. The acquisition adds a further 9.6 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 0.5 Moz gold to Brightstar’s JORC Mineral Resource Estimate, giving the company a total mineral endowment of 38.3 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 2.0 Moz gold.
The acquisition of the MGEP from Gateway Mining and 100 percent of Alto’s shares creates a third district-scale resource base for the company called the Sandstone Hub. Upon consolidation of the Laverton, Menzies and Sandstone hubs, Brightstar’s mineral resources would reach 3 Moz at 1.5g/t gold.
Subsequent to the deal with Alto Metals, Brightstar entered into a $4 million drill-for-equity agreement with Topdrill to aggressively advance the consolidated Sandstone gold project. The deal strengthens Brightstar's financial capacity to fulfill its multi-hub exploration and development strategy, which includes the Menzies, Laverton and Sandstone hubs.
Company Highlights
- Brightstar Resources is an ASX-listed mining and development company with more than 3 million ounces of gold resources and an on-site processing infrastructure across its project locations in Laverton, Menzies and Sandstone in Western Australia.
- Brightstar's mineral assets are situated across roughly 300 square kilometers of 100-percent-owned land in the Laverton Tectonic Zone and ~80 square kilometers in the high-grade Menzies Shear Zone.
- The Laverton Gold project has a mineral resource of 9.7 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 511 koz gold and the Menzies gold project has 13.8 Mt @ 1.3g/t gold for 595 koz gold.
- In 2023, the company completed a scoping study into the development of its Menzies and Laverton gold projects and the refurbishment and restart of its processing plant in Laverton.
- In 2023 and 2024, Brightstar completed a small-scale mining joint venture with BML Ventures which involved a 50/50 profit-sharing agreement to exploit the Selkirk deposit at Menzies. In April 2024, Brightstar announced that this joint venture delivered a net profit to Brightstar of $6.5 million.
- In June 2024, the company successfully acquired all of the issued ordinary shares and options in Linden Gold Alliance, a gold producer, developer and explorer with existing mineral resources of 350 koz @ 2.1 g/t gold near Brightstar in the Laverton district.
- As part of the merger with Linden Gold, Brightstar released a scoping study into Linden’s development-ready Jasper Hills gold project, which delivered key metrics including:
- 140 koz mined over 3.75 years (35 koz pa)
- Net present value of AU$99 million
- Internal rate of return of 736 percent
- Pre-production capital requirements of $12 million
- All-in sustaining costs of AU$1,972/oz
- Jasper Hills is located just 50 km SE of Brightstar’s processing plant in the Laverton gold project
- Brightstar has recently completed the acquisition of the gold rights at the Montague East gold project (MEGP) from Gateway Mining Limited (ASX:GML), and has entered into an agreement to acquire Alto Metals (ASX:AME) further creating the company’s third district-scale resource base known as the Sandstone Hub.
- Brightstar plans to continue generating shareholder value through a combination of development and strategic acquisitions along with some exploration.
Key Projects
Laverton Hub
Brightstar’s Laverton hub is comprised of the Cork Tree Well, Beta and Alpha project areas with the addition of the Second Fortune gold mine and the Jasper Hills projects.
Highlights:
- Cork Tree Well, Alpha and Beta have current total JORC mineral resource estimate of 9.7 Mt @ 1.6 g/t gold for 511 koz (52 percent measured and indicated category). All mineral resources are on granted mining leases
- Cork Tree Well (6.4 Mt at 1.4 g/t gold for 303 koz gold)
- Alpha (1.4 Mt at 2.3 g/t gold for 106 koz gold)
- Beta (1.9 Mt at 1.7 g/t gold for 102 koz gold)
- Main project area Cork Tree Well is open at depth and along strike with recent drilling results of 34.4 meters at 7.94 g/t gold from 43.5 meters (CTWMET004) and 27.6 meters at 17.8 g/t gold from 51 m (CTWMET003)
- Second Fortune has a mineral resource estimate head grade of ~11g/t gold with an average ore body width of ~0.6 meters.
- Jasper Hills is located 50 km from Brightstar’s existing processing facility along a wholly-owned private haul road, allowing unimpeded, direct access to both projects
- Permitted, previously mined and production-ready
- Last mined by current owners in 2020 with 23,000 oz gold mined
- Scoping Study outcomes include:
- Pre-production capex of $12 million required (maximum capital drawdown)
- Open pit mine at Lord Byron and underground mine at Fish
- Production of 141 koz over four years (35 koz per annum)
- LOM EBITDA of $135 million (@ AU$3,000/oz)
Menzies Hub
The Menzies Hub comprises a tenement holding of a contiguous land package of granted mining leases over a strike length of more than 20 km. The majority of deposits hosted along the Menzies Shear Zone are located adjacent to Goldfields Highway in Menzies (130km north of Kalgoorlie).
Highlights:
- Total Current Resource: 13.7 Mt at 1.3 g/t gold for 595 koz gold (36 percent measured and indicated)
- September 2023 scoping study showed the simultaneous development of open pit mining at Lady Shenton system and underground mining at Yunndaga:
- 1.9 Mt @ 1.63 g/t Au (100 koz) in open pit mining at Lady Shenton
- 650 kt @ 2.91 g/t (60 koz) in underground mining at Yunndaga
- Low capex of $22 million
- Significant opportunities to find virgin discoveries and brownfields mineral resource growth:
Sandstone Hub
The consolidated Sandstone project is over 100 km from existing third-party milling operations in the Murchison. This third processing hub boasts Alto’s Sandstone project with a mineral resource of 1.05 Moz at 1.4 g/t gold and Gateway’s Montague gold project with a mineral resource of 0.5 Moz @ 1.6 g/t gold.
Brightstar aims to fast-track the development timetable through:
- A focused, multi-rig infill drill out to take the inferred mineralisation into measured and indicated status to underpin mining studies and project advancement
- The application of Brightstar’s dedicated in-house geological and mining engineering team to retain crucial project IP and fast-tracked mining studies;
Brightstar Processing Facility
Situated close to Brightstar's existing mineral assets at Laverton, the Brightstar Processing Plant provides the company with a considerable operational head start over its peers.
Highlights:
- Extensive Infrastructure: Current facilities at the plant include two ball mills, a power station and gravity and elution circuits. Other infrastructure includes:
- A tailings storage dam
- An on-site process water pond
- A 60-person accommodation camp
- An airstrip at the Cork Tree Well Project
- Vehicles and equipment include a forklift, bobcat, two loaders, multiple light vehicles and a 30-tonne crane.
- A Leg Up Over Competitors: The presence of pre-existing processing infrastructure represents significant time savings compared to greenfields development. Brightstar had an independent valuation completed which valued the processing plant at AU$60 million in replacement value.
- Low Upfront Capital Cost: As part of the scoping study released in September 2023, GR Engineering estimated a capital cost requirement to refurbish and expand the milling capacity would cost just AU$18.5 million.
- Close to Existing Assets: Brightstar's major development projects — Cork Tree Well, Jasper Hills, Beta and Alpha — are all close to the plant.
Gold doré bars (BTR005 – BTR016) poured on 9 March 2024
Management Team
Alex Rovira - Managing Director
Alex Rovira is a qualified geologist and an experienced investment banker having focused on the metals and mining sector since 2013. Rovira has experience in ASX equity capital markets activities, including capital raisings, IPOs and merger and acquisitions.
Richard Crookes - Non-executive Chairman
Richard Crookes has over 35 years’ experience in the resources and investments industries. He is a geologist by training having previously worked as the chief geologist and mining manager of Ernest Henry Mining in Australia.
Crookes is managing partner of Lionhead Resources, a critical minerals investment fund and formerly an investment director at EMR Capital. Prior to that he was an executive director in Macquarie Bank’s Metals Energy Capital (MEC) division where he managed all aspects of the bank’s principal investments in mining and metals companies.
Andrew Rich - Executive Director
Andrew Rich is a degree qualified mining engineer from the WA School of Mines and has obtained a WA First Class Mine Managers Certificate. Rich has a strong background in underground gold mining with experience predominantly in the development of underground mines at Ramelius Resources (ASX:RMS) and Westgold Resources (ASX:WGX).
Ashley Fraser - Non-executive Director
Ashley Fraser is an accomplished mining professional with over 30 years experience across gold and bulk commodities. Fraser was a founder of Orionstone (which merged with Emeco in a $660-million consolidation) and is a founder/owner of Blue Cap Mining and Blue Cap Equities.
Jonathan Downes - Non-executive Director
Jonathan Downes has over 30 years’ experience in the minerals industry and has worked in various geological and corporate capacities. Experienced with gold and base metals, he has been intimately involved with the exploration process through to production. Downes is currently the managing director of Kaiser Reef, a high grade gold producer, and non-executive director of Cazaly Resources.
Dean Vallve – Chief Operating Officer
Dean Vallve holds technical qualifications in geology & mining engineering from the WA School of Mines, an MBA, and a WA First Class Mine Managers Certificate. Vallve was previously in senior mining and study roles at ASX listed mid-cap resources companies Hot Chili (ASX:HCH) and Calidus Resources (ASX:CAI).
Shallow, High-Grade Gold Mineralisation Intersected at Barimaia Gold Project
Key Points:
- Significant results received from the second phase of shallow Reverse Circulation (RC) drilling at the McNabs East Prospect at the Barimaia Gold Project in Western Australia, including:
- 2Gm @ 2.52g/t Au from 81m 24BARC083
- Including 1m @ 47.5g/t Au from 107m (visible gold present)
- 4m @ G.62g/t Au from 5Gm 24BARC102
- Including 1m @ 32.7g/t Au from 60m
- 25m @ 1.50g/t Au from 56m 24BARC087
- 5m @ 4.61g/t Au from 61m 24BARC104
- Including 1m @ 1G.6g/t Au from 64m
- 16m @ 1.23g/t Au from 5m 24BARC103
- 15m @ 1.24g/t Au from 30m 24BARC07G
- 2m @ 6.62g/t Au from 42m 24BARC0G7
- 7m @ 1.6Gg/t Au from 73m 24BARC07G
- 2Gm @ 2.52g/t Au from 81m 24BARC083
- Extensive zone of gold mineralisation now defined at McNabs East at shallow depths (typically <80m vertical) over a strike length of +1,000m and remains open along strike and untested at depth.
- The recent shallow drilling at McNabs East was completed on ~100m-spaced sections to continue the first-pass test of the Barimaia felsic intrusion.
- Primary mineralisation in the McNabs East area is associated with an interpreted granodiorite intrusion, strongly supporting the potential for Eridanus-style deposits at Barimaia.
- Diamond drilling planned for November to obtain structural and lithological data at McNabs East, which will be followed by extensional and in-fill RC drilling in the March 2025 Ǫuarter.
The RC drilling program was completed in September and October 2024 as the second phase of a larger, ongoing program to systematically test at shallow depths (typically < 80m vertical) the currently defined 2.5km strike extent of gold mineralisation at Barimaia.
Results from the program continue to confirm shallow, open pit potential, with coherent zones of gold mineralisation starting to be defined within an extensive gold system that remains untested at depth and remains open along strike.
Drilling completed on section 585,640E (see Figures 1 and 2) returned significant high-grade gold mineralisation in 24BARC083 (2Gm @ 2.52g/t Au from 81m) to the end of the hole (EOH) at 110m.
Visible gold was panned in the interval from 107m to 108m, which returned an intercept of 1m @ 47.5g/t Au.
Strong gold mineralisation was also returned from 24BARC087 (25m @ 1.50g/t Au from 56m) on section 585,550E (see Figures 1 and 3), adjacent to where a robust zone of gold mineralisation was intersected in drilling completed in August 2024 in 24BARC056 (21m @ 1.60g/t Au from 62m) and 24BARC057 (36m @ 0.85g/t Au from 50m). This interpreted flat-lying zone of gold mineralisation is over 80m wide on section.
Drilling completed on the eastern limit of the Phase 2 program on section 586,300E (see Figures 1 and 5) returned high-grade gold mineralisation in two separate zones, including 4m @ G.62g/t Au from 5Gm in 24BARC102 including 1m @ 32.7g/t Au from 60m; and 5m @ 4.61g/t Au from 61m in 24BARC104 including 1m @ 1G.6g/t Au from 64m. Importantly, no RC drilling has been completed east of this line along the interpreted strike of the mineralisation.
Management Comment
Commenting on the results, Ordell’s Managing Director, Michael Fowler, said:
“Our second drill program at Barimaia has delivered some great results, with wide zones of shallow gold mineralisation intersected within the targeted felsic intrusion host rock. Importantly, a number of high- grade gold results were returned from the program which are open at depth and along strike.
“This shows the potential of the mineralised system, which is beginning to take shape, pointing to significant future growth opportunities as our drilling programs advance.
“We have now completed over 5,000m since we listed on the ASX in July, with the results from this drilling showing clear potential for shallow open pits at Barimaia.
“Our next step is to complete a diamond drilling program in November to help confirm the orientation, lithologies and geometry of the significant mineralisation centred on section 585,550E. This drilling will be followed up by further extensional and in-fill drilling in the coming months.”
Figure 1. Results from RC drilling at the McNabs East Prospect at Barimaia. September to October 2024 intercepts are highlighted in dark yellow boxes. The location of section lines for Figures 2 to 5 are shown in blue.
Ordell’s exploration at Barimaia is targeting new discoveries of a similar style to the Eridanus deposit, which forms part of Ramelius Resources’ (ASX: RMS) Mount Magnet gold mining operations (Figure 6).
Eridanus lies approximately 6km north-west of Barimaia and hosts a current Mineral Resource Estimate of 21Mt @ 1.7g/t Au for 1,200,000oz of contained gold1, with an additional +300,000 ounces of gold already mined from the open pit.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Ordell Minerals Limited, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.